ConocoPhillips seeks quick hearing on wide loads in Idaho, says delays mean millions in losses

Company seeks quick hearing on wide loads in Idaho

BOISE, Idaho — ConocoPhillips is asking the Idaho Supreme Court to speed its appeal of a ruling that halted the oil company’s plans to haul oversized loads of refinery equipment along a protected scenic highway in northern Idaho.

The company claims it stands to lose up to $9 million and face production disruptions at its refinery in Billings, Mont., if the shipments are not cleared to resume immediately.

The motion for an expedited hearing comes days after 2nd District Judge John Bradbury revoked special permits issued to the company by the Idaho Department of Transportation. Bradbury ordered the agency to review the permits and take steps to ensure public safety and convenience have been adequately considered.

ConocoPhillips had hoped to begin hauling the massive coke drums last week from Lewiston to Billings along U.S. Highway 12, a winding, two-lane roadway that traces the Clearwater and Lochsa rivers.

But three opponents of the shipments sued, claiming the oversized loads posed a threat to the environment, public safety and tourism.

Idaho’s Supreme Court Justices have not yet responded to the company’s request. But finding room in the schedule may be a challenge.

Typically, there is at least a six-month waiting period between the time an attorney requests an appeal and the case is heard by the justices. In the last two months alone, court records show at least 100 appeals have been filed. There are also about 40 cases already scheduled on the court’s docket through the end of the year.

Still, ConocoPhillips lawyers say the circumstances of the stalled shipments are unique and merit moving the case to the front of the line.

Company attorney Erik Stidham said construction on a bridge along Highway 12 is scheduled to resume soon, leaving the company with a short window to move the shipments. Additional delays could keep the trucks in Lewiston until early next year, forcing repairs and upgrades at the refinery to be postponed until next summer.

“If the shipments do not commence without delay, ConocoPhillips likely will suffer financial losses in excess of $9 million and will have its Billings refinery significantly compromised,” Stidham wrote.

The company also contends Bradbury’s ruling creates new and conflicting interpretations of IDT’s regulations that should be resolved quickly because it threatens the agency’s ability to issue permits for thousands of over-legal loads.

Bradbury’s decision is an early victory for opponents in a tussle not likely to disappear with any ruling in the ConocoPhillips case.

Later this year, Exxon Mobil Corp. hopes to begin hauling along Highway 12 the first of more than 200 oversized shipments of oil equipment. The machinery is scheduled to arrive in the port in Lewiston, then be trucked at night along the 175-mile byway into Montana before arriving at the Kearl Oil Sands project in Alberta.

Each of the Exxon loads would weigh 300 tons, stretch 227 feet long, and reach 27 feet high and 29 feet wide, taking up both lanes of the highway. Trucks would move only at night and pull over in newly designed turnouts during the day.